Machine for grinding bottles and stoppers



w. H. RANAGAN CHINE FOR GRINDING BOTTLES AND STOPPERS Filed Nv. s. 192:5

4 Sheng-Sheet 2 wg ff w.l H. RANAGAN CHINE ILGRINDIRG BOTTLES AND STOPPBRS vindnu. s, i923 4-sheets-shee1; s

17,1925.- -lgsmoss .-w. H. RANAGAN uAcHIN..roR @BINDING BOTTLES ANDsmoRPli-ms Filed Nov. 3, 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet; 4

r A and claims.

Patented Mar. 17, 19-25.`

UNITED STATES WILLIAM n. RANAGAN, or VINELAND, NEW JERSEY.'

imanes PATENTEA oFFicEf.

MACHINE Eon GRINDING BOTTLES AND srorrrms.y y

Applicationled N'ovember 3, v192.3. Serial` No. 672,645.

cally carried through a'deinite grinding operation. A

Bottles and stoppers of the type to which the `present invention are tobe applied -are y commonly blown or formed with smooth necks and stoppersurfaces, respectively, of-

anproximately the proper size and are provided with the desiredroughen'ed surface by grinding with emery ldust or other suitableabrasive. This is done in a lathe the bottles or stoppers being placedindividually inthe lathe one at a time and requiring the attention of anoperator during the grinding. The grinding of the bottles or stoppers inthis manner has heretoforev accordingly consumed considerable time andlabor.

An object of my invention is to provide a machine in which a number ofbottles or stoppers may be ground simultaneously.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine in which bottlesandstoppers need only be inserted and removed at the proper positionsand are then automatically ground'without further attention by theoperator. v

Other objects and features of the invention are the provision of meansfor automatically feeding emery dust or abrasive to the grindingsurfaces, means for controlling the rate of feeding the abrasive and ofa lgrinding means that may be readily adjusted for grinding, bottlesand: stoppers of various sizes and dimensions. v

lVith these and other objects in vi'ew the `invention comprises theapparatus described and set forth the following specification Thevarious features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which: y

Fig. l is a side elevation of a grinding machine` embodying a `preferredform of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the machine taken online 2 2 ofFig. l.

Fig. 3 is a pl'anview of the machine taken on line 33 ofFig. 2. i w

Fig. 4 isa horizontal sectional viewof the machine takenon line i- 4 ofFig. 2,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation ofa carriage showing the arrangement forgrinding bottle necksl Fig. `Gisan elevation of the carriage taken online'G-Got` Fig; f Fig.: 7 is"a side elevation of the carriage arrangedfor grinding bottle` stoppers. Fig. 8 is a dis-'assembled perspectiveview of the4 stopper and its holding and :grinding means.

In my present invention the bottles? are placed individually onindividual carriers and carried through a circuit in vvhichthey arebrought' into relation to a rotating grinding element. Emerydust lorother suitable powdered abrasive is lfed'down between the rotatinggrinding element and the neck of Athe bottle, or the surface Tof thestopper in case-a stopper is beingground, andthe rotating element isslightly reciprocated axially at intervals during the grinding to permitthe abrasive to reach and spread uniformly over the surface to beground. The

bottles or stoppers are carried through the circuit in this manner andare then displaced axially' out of operative relation to the grindingtools and replaced `by new bottles or stoppers to be ground. The bottlesor stoppers are r'esilientlyheldy against the grinding tool and thepositions of the carriages carryingthebottlesor stoppers may bevaried-relatively tothev grinding element to enable objects of' varioussizesand dimensions to be ground." y

Referring more particularly to thevaecompanying drawings, the bottles'10 to be ground are placed 'on individual carriers 1,2 mounted inspacedfrelation on al rotatable spider 14. The-carriages l2 areVslidably supv ported ongthe sp'ideryltbvmeansof lugs 18 mountedon'upright'baks 2() on the carriages and slidable'infverti'cal grooves`22 in upright standards '24: at the outer endsof the spider 14.'Thepcarriages l12 are urged upwardly by means of a 'weight 26 orequivalentdevice suspended on a chain 28 which is attached at itsotherend to'the'carriage 12 and is passed over a pulley `30 mounted on abracket 32 at the upper end ofthe upright standards 24. The Weights 26are kept in proper position by means of guiding uprights 31 at eitherside of each weight.

The spider is mounted on and fixed by means of a set screw33 to arotatable sleeve 34 encircling and rotatable on a shaft 36 and restingon a supporting base of the machine. The spider is rotated by means of acog wheel 42 fixed on the sleeve 34 by means of a set screw 43 anddriven by means yof a chain 44 from any suitable source of is guarded:from upward displacement by means of a socket 56 into which the lowerend of the spindle 48 is threaded or otherwise secured and which restsagainst. the lower lface of the bearing 50. An extension shaft '58 isinserted into the lower face vof the socket 56 and carries at Aits lowerend the grinding tool 46 which projects into the neck of the bottle 10immediately beneath it as the carriage 12 is forced to its uppermostposition by means of the weight 26.

The gears 54, and theirl spindles 48 and grinding` tools 46 are rotate-din unison by means of a central gear wheel 60 which meshes with each ofthe gears 54. The gear wheel 60 is rigidly supported on the upper endportion of the shaft 36 by lmeans of a hub `62 on the wheel and a setscrew V64 mounted on the hub and engaging the. shaft. The shaft 36 isrotated independently of, and relativevto,` the sleeve 34 and itsassociated parts by means of a cog wheel 66 rigidly mounted on the upperportion of the shaft and driven from any suitable source of `power bymeans of a chain 68. The shaft 36 is supported at its lower end in asocket or recessed boss 70 on the base 40 of the machine and issupported at its upper end in a bearing 7 2 carried on a supporting arm74 extending upwardly from the base 40.

In the operation of the apparatus, the spider 14 is rotated slowly andthe wheel 60 is rotated at a different rate of speed so that thespindles 48 and grinding tools 46 are rapidly rotated. Attlie same timea` supply of abrasive is fed downwardly 'about the grinding tool andspreads betweenl the grinding tool and the'neck of the bottle or othersurface to be ground. yForjthis purpose a supply of the abrasive inwater or other suitable Huid medium is carried in an annular trough 76`having openings 78 in which the rotating elements vof `the grindingtools are positioned. The abrasive is fed to `th-e grinding t-ools in aregulated stream, preferably by making the openings ("8 of slightlylarger diameter than the diameters of the rotating elements to form anannular space through which the abrasive may fall to thegrinding tools.To enable the supply of abrasive to be regulated, a

pair of semi-circular gates 80 see Figure 3 are pivoted at 82 about, andimmediately beneath, the openings so that the space for the passage ofthe abrasive to pass may be enlargedk or decreased.

To insure the proper distribution and penetration of the abrasivebetween the grindingtools and the surfaces to be ground, the bottles,and grinding tools yare given a slight relative movementlongitudinally, thereby. enlarging theA space therebetween andpermitting the abrasive to flow `freely to the grinding surface. Forthis purpose, the carriages `are each depressed slightly during each.revolution `of the gear wheel 60 by 'means of a cam 84mounted on theunder side of the gear 60 in position to depress a follower rod 86 foreachcarriage. .The follower -rods 86 areslidably mounted in individualguides 88 on the wings 52 and are connected at their lower ends throughextensible links 90 to levers 92, pivoted at one right faces 20 of thecarriages 12. Accord' ingly, as the rods 86-are depressed by the cam 84,the levers 92 and the carriages 12 .are accordingly slightly depressed,the cam being-so proportioned that .this `depression is just sutcient topermit the abrasive to flow to the grinding-surface.v

After passing .through the grinding cycle, each bottle lis removed andreplaced by a new bottle to be ground. `.For this purpose, thecarriagev12 is depressed at one locality in each rotation by means of a cam 96,supported on standards 98, on the base 40, beneath the Vspider 14 andcarriages 12 in such position as to engage the upper .tace of a hook'100 depending from the under'- side oi" the carriage 12. 7hen the hook100 passes under the cam thecarriage is depressed'funtil the vneck ofthe bottle is below and free from ythe grinding tool 46, and is held indepressed `position for a sufficient time to permitthe bottle to beremoved` and replaced by a newone.. The hook then passes from beneaththe cam and the carriage is released and drawn upwardly by the Aweight26.

vThe bottle is held in position' on the carriages .12;by means ofupright fingers 102 and .104 on either' side of the carriage, by theupright back `2O and by an engaging lever 106 on the frontpartofthecarriage, which maybe operated to press the bottle against the back 20or to release thelbottle so that it maybe withdraw-n. j For thispurypose the lever106`is pivoted between a pair of supports 108 on thecarriage and has an aim 110 `forengaging the side of the bottle i and anarm 112 extending outwardly by which the lever may be operated. The backgrind the surfaces of Stoppers. `For this operation the stopper 114 ismounted in inverted position on a holder 116 having a slot or socket.117 into which the top of the stop,- per may be inserted. The holder116 may be mounted on the carriage in t-he saine manner as a bottle. Thebottle grinding tool is replaced by a tool 118 that fits over the singleset of bottles and stoppers being so shaped that they fit each other.The tool 118 is also provided with an opening 120 in a lits side wallsthrough which the abrasive riages 12 are moved inwardly towards oroutwardly from, the shaft 36 untilV the back is at a distance from theaXis ofrotation of the grinding tool equal to the radius `of the bottle.For this purpose, the arms of the spider 14 are provided with radialslots 122 and the carriages are mounted on the spiders by means ofrearwardly extending horizont-al brackets 124 resting on the arms of thespider and slidably mounted thereon and secured thereto bymeans of abolt 4126 extending downwardly through the slot 122 and fastened bymeans of a. nut 128. `The carriages are rigidly kept in proper positionon the spider arms by means of lugs 180 depending downwardly from thebrackets 124 into the slots 122. .i j

. IVhen the carriages are thus adjusted the fingers 102- and 104 and thebrackets 108 and levers 106 are also adjusted to center the bottlesorjstoppers .under the grinding tools.

To this end each carriage is provided with.

a sidewise ledge 132and 134 at` either side ot' the carriage on whichthe fingers are mounted by means oit sidewise projecting bases 186 and`138 andy each ledge is provided with a slot 140 through which passes abolt 142 depending from the projections 126 and 138 for adjustablymounting the lingers on the ledges. In asimilar manner the lever bracket108 is slidably and adjustably mounted on va forwardly projecting ledge144 on the carriage 12 by means of a bolt 146.

. The apparatus may also be adjust-ed to operate on bottles of variousheights by adjustingcthe altitude or vertical position of the spider 14and the carriages `andmechanism associated therewith. The spider and itsassociated carriages may be raised or lowered by loosening the setscrews 33 and 43 and adjusting the spider 14 and sprocket wheel 42 tobring' the spider and carriages 12 to the proper .heigh j y The heightoit the cam 96 is also adjusted to correspond with the height of thespider and carriages by making the standards 98 Iextensible.' For thispurpose the standards are made of a lower upright 148 mounted directlyon vthe base and an upper mem ber 150 to which the cam 96 is attachedand whlch is provided with a guiding flange or lug 152 and a clampingbolt 15.4 slidable in kvertical slots 156 in the lower upright 148.stopper surface, the tools 46 and 118 for a A As the spideri14 `islowered, the levers 92 and the rod 86` are also lowered, To bringthe-rod 86 'into proper positionrelative to the cam 84 the Llink 90 isprovided with a slot 15S-through which passfbolts 160 at-` tached to thelowerend portion of therods 86 in such manner that they may be loosenedto adjust the relative position of the link `and frod and then tightenedto hold them in adjusted position andto transmit downward thrusts fromthe cam 84 tothe levers 92.

In the operation ofthe machine the spiders'14 are rotated at a speedthat causes the carriages to be held in their lowered position by thecam 96 for just sufficient time to permit a finished or ground bottle orstopper to be removed and a new one to be inserted in the carriage andtightenedby means of the lever 106. The capacity of the machine isthuslimited only by the time requiredto replacebottles or Stoppers. The gearis rotated at sucha speed relative to the gear 42 and carriages 12 as togive the `grinding tools 46 thenumber of revolutions required to grind abottle or stopper iii a single revolution or cycle.- The `slightdepression of the carriages 12.and bottles 10 at definite intervals by.means of the cam 84, rods 86 and `levers 92 in `connection with theproper adjustment ofthe feed gates 80 for the 1 abrasive,` insu-res aproper supply and ldistribution of the abrasive over the surface to beground.

As changes of construction could be made within the scope of myinvention, it is intended that all matters contained in the aboveydescription or shown in the accompanying drawings, be interpreted asillustrative and not in alimiting sense. j

Having described the invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. A machine of the type described which comprises, a series ofcarriages for holding bottles or Stoppers, means for carrying said.

carriages through aldeiinite circuit, means for carrying grinding toolsvthrough said circuit eaclifin. operative .relation to an, object onacarriage, means forrotating said .tools relative to objects on saidcarriage, means Ifor feeding abrasive to'said grinding tools, means forcontrolling the feedof said abrasive, andimeansfor causing a: slightrellativeaiiial displacement between reach of said carriages andfitsvtool atintervals during grinding to enable said abrasive topenetratebetween said ,tool and thesurface being ground. j

2. A machine ofthe type Vdescribed which comprises, a seriesof-carriageseeachhholding a bottle or the like, means forcarrying saidcarriages through a definite -circuit, 1neans for carrying al grindingtool for each carriage through sailfcircuit and; rotating it inoperative relation to the object oir said carriage, means forresiliently pressingeacn said carriage towards said tool, means-forfeeding abrasive to said tool, andmeans for pressing said carriageslightly away from said ytool at intervals. n

3. Amachine of theftypevdescribed Which comprises, a series of carriagesfor bottles or the like,4 means fork carrying .said carriages through adefinite operative circuit, means for rotating and carrying `a grindingtool foreach carriage throughsaid operative circuit relative to saidcarriage, means-foi' yieldingly holding s aid carriages to operativeposition-with said tools, means for-feeding abrasiveto said tools, meansfor slightly displacing said carriages against ythe vaction of saidyielding means at intervals during grinding to` permit penetrationY ofabrasive between said tool and the surface to be ground, and means for`displacing each said carriage to permit removaland replacement ofobjects to be ground during a por-tion of said circuit.

4f. A machine of the type described, which comprises a series ofcarriages for bottles or the like, means yfor-carrying said carriagesthrough a definite operative circuit, means for rotating and carrying agrinding tool yshaft for each carriage through saidoperative circuitwith said carriage, rmeans Ifor yieldingly holding said carriagesto lanoperative `position relative to saidtool device, means for feeding theabrasive to the tools, means foi-,slightly displacing saidcarriagesagainstzthe action of said yieldingmeans at iiiterva'lsduring grindingto permit penetration of abrasive between the -"too'l' and the surfaceto be ground, and means for displacing each said carriage to permitremoval and replacement of objects 'to be ground during its, progress ofsaid circuit, each. said carriage ,having means for interchangeablyholdinga bottle or .a stopper and interJ changeable internal andexternal ,grinding .surface tools for..eaehptoolshaft- 5;. machine ofthe type described which gcomprises, rotatable l member, carriagesmounted on said member, means for carrying landv rotating tools one toolabove each carriage, andan abrasive carrying pan havving openingsthrough lwhich said tools-project and providing spaces vthrough whichthronghsaid openings.

-7. Afinachine of the typeiclesci'ibed which comprises, a Q rotatingmember, carriages mounted-circularly on said member, grindingtool'smounted one above each carriage, a main driving gear rotatable relativeto said carrier forrotating said tools on their axes, means foryielding'ly Ipressing, said carriages towardsgsaid tools, acam on saidmain gear, levers pivoted on said carrier and projecting over` saidcarriages, rods attached to said le- .vers and slidably mounted on saidcarrier to be depressedby saidl caniand to depress said levers andcarriages slightly at intervals, means permitting an adjustment of saidmember relative to said tools and means permitting lengthening orshortening said rods to coirespondivith the position of said member.

' i8. A machine ofthe type described Which comprises, a lvertical shaft,a member rotatably mounted on said shaft, carriages mounted onsaidmember, tools mounted,one above each carriage and rotating with saidinember, means for resiliently pressing said carriages individuallyupwards towardssaid tools, individual gears for rotating said toolsontheir axes, a. central gear for rotating said. gears simultaneously,individual levers mounted to depress said carriages, a

cam on saidcentral gear and means for depressing said levers slightlyfrom said cam, and a. cam adapted'jto depress ,said individualcarriages'at a part of their path of travel to permitV the positioning or removalof yanarticle lto'be operated upon.

- WILLIAM RA'NAGAN.

